| 27 December 2009
I had Eddie Jordan's same reaction: Sixers are so bad that is tough to watch them.
The (good) thing about these kind of (awful) games, is that they are pretty easy to recap.
Sixers' 97-76 L in Utah was the sixth straight against the Jazz, 16th in the last 18 overall this season, with the record dropping to an embarassing 7-22, (.241).
As you perhaps know, I am not a stats fanatic: I always look at the numbers of course, but I rather try to analyze them, because sometimes they don't tell the exact truth, or hide a part of it.
Well, this was not the case, the boxscore explains what happened fairly enough.
Sixers started well (15-19), allowed a 10-0 break to close the first quarter (25-19), and fell under a double digit deficit after Utah extended its lead to 32-19 early in the second: that counts for a 17-0 run, yeah.
We always trailed with margins around 8-12 points but managed to cut it to 56-50 in the middle of the third on a nice jumper by Thaddeus Young, Sixers' most consistent scorer last night. Deron Williams sparked another run for the Jazz, up 68-54 with 3.10 to play: the period ended at 72-64. Still a close, ugly-but-open game, right? Wrong...
Sixers had an epic collapse in the fourth, missing all of their first FIFTEEN shots. The first field goal was scored by Thaddeus Young with 4.05 left, for the 83-66: needless to say the game was already over. Our total from the field in the final period was a 'stunning' 3/23, with the other two shots hit in the final 1.18 minute, obviously garbage time... nothing to add here.
THREE ANSWERS
1) Yes, Sam was in his full "Dumblebert" mode, with three fouls picked in the first 6 minutes (second and third in two consecutive possessions...), the fourth with 4.24 left in the second, and the fifth after 50 SECONDS played in the THIRD quarter (!!). Like they say, it's ok being stupid, but you are taking advantage of it.
He still managed to pull down 9 boards in only 16 minutes, and if you consider that we got badly outrebounded (49-39) here you have one explaination for the loss. Jazz took only six offensive rebounds but they don't needed more, as they shot the ball pretty well.
2) No, I didn't know the seven footer Jason Smith was a small forward, but resident genius Eddie Jordan evidently has different thoughts, as he put him in at that spot another time. The line up that started the second was Williams-Green-Smith-Speights-Brand (= immediate 7-0 Jazz run...).
3) Yes, we all love that Jrue Holiday has a strong personality and is not shy to take responsibilities, but someone should start to tell him that long jumpers with 20+ seconds on the shot clock are not good for our offense. He takes 2-3 of them per game, meaning too many for my taste (more after the jump).THREE QUESTIONS
1) Why Deron Williams always, and I mean always, kills us? I remember Andre Miller getting embarassed a couple of times in the past years, he simply continued in his hot streak vs Sixers... great player anyway.
2) What's with the free throws again? 6/12 at the half, with Iguodala shooting 2/5. Jazz missed many also (10/18 at the break), but they were connecting well from behind the arc (unusual uh?)
3) What happened to Speights? 0/8 from the field, I must say few of them were bad shots, he was taking them from his usual positions, they were simply not falling. Bad offensive game (3 TOs also), he never found his rythm.
REASONS
Why we lost the game
33% from the field will not win you many games in the NBA, 3/23 in the 4th even less. All of our guards were in an off night, Green, Lou Williams and Holiday combined for 8/27....
Utah smartly pounded the ball inside to Boozer in the first (10 points), shot well the three and got a great lift from its bench, especially from Matthews, who completed an alley oop pass with a wonderful reverse two handed dunk in the first, surely the play of the night.
To be optimistic
Uhm, very tough here, one more time. Eddie Jordan got closer to his firing? Thad Young stat line MIGHT look nice but zero defensive rebounds in 32 minutes are nothing to be proud of. Sixers actually managed to stay close for 3/4 of the game, also thanks to many TOs by the Jazz.
Playoffs are only 4 W away: sad to say, but Chicago is currently ranked 8th with its 11-17 record... this could sound weird only if you have NOT been following the Eastern conference for the last, what? three-four seasons.
To be worried
All of the above, + the fact that Iverson's return is nearing, and as I already said, that could be a turning point in this troubled Sixers' season. Not because I think he would carry us somewhere, but because the situation in the locker room can definitely explode, after we had already some serious signs of what can eventually happen.
I think Eddie Jordan will not be able to manage the horrible combination of losses and (many) players bitching. I am curious to see how he will try to handle this.
Monday at Portland vs old buddy Andre Miller (much respect, I was a big fan of him).
Sixers fans' pain is apparently not going to stop anytime soon.
